2 Broke Girls: Max's Taxes

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yes, we all believe that the crowd waiting in line at a Brooklyn post office at the last minute to file taxes will jump at the chance to help Max figure out her deductions. NOT. But, it was fun to have a tax-day episode... we don't get those nearly enough on sitcoms. Besides Roseanne, what other shows have had them... anyone? Luckily, 2 Broke Girls managed to mix the event with a pretty funny plot about the perils of a messy purse. Not only do you sometimes forget to cash a check, but you also get the joy of finding mystery pills ad deciding when to take them, just in case they're illegal substances. The big let-down this episode was the Oleg-Sophie storyline. No, I didn't think that they were going to last, but I also wasn't expecting Sophie to drag it out for no reason, either. and I'd much prefer Han and Earl having more airtime than Oleg!

2 Broke Girls "And the Messy Purse Smackdown" (S01E21): Oleg is acting less inappropriate at the diner now that he's seeing Sophie. What he doesn't know, however, is that Sophie is planning to begin dating another man. Caroline tells her that she needs to end it with Oleg but she continues to lead him on anyway. [WHAT is Sophie wearing??]

Earl drinks brandy while he does his taxes, but when Caroline takes a quick look, she feels that she could get him more deductions and offers to spend some time on it, mailing it for him later. [Kim Jong Il is a pretty wicked thing to call someone. Tyler Perry made me crack up, tho!] Max, who has never filed her taxes because she always gets frustrated, asks Caroline for help, too, but Caroline is focused on the fact that Max's purse is so messy that she can't find a stamp and has been carrying around a $200 check from an office party they did. [cool, so they're working on the business off-screen now, too.] It gets to the point that Max just decides to throw out all of her paperwork, not realizing that Earl's tax return is in the pile. [while I love a good joke about FICA, I felt that this one was lifted right from Rachel on Friends fifteen years ago.] Max decides to get away from Caroline and have her taxes done at a hipster place, but when the guy immediately begins fudging numbers, Caroline gets upset and Max just decides to file an extension. [that whole tax place was weird. I'm surprised it wasn't swarming with people, too.]

Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS

It's at this point that Caroline realizes that Earl's tax return is missing. They have to go dumpster-diving quickly, as it's trash pickup night. [too much talking, not enough searching!] They find their bag of trash and rush to the post office get in line. Max starts feeling like crap for not filing when others all were able to, so she gets a second wind and fills out a 1040 while Caroline runs back to the apartment to get the W2s. [I just realized I never filed on paper before. My mom claimed me until I was 20 and after that I could just file electronically.] Luckily, all of the procrastinators in line help out Max and she finishes just in time... well, the worker does give her a little leeway. [shenanigans!]

Cupcakery Savings Total: $675.00 [what about the $200? or do we not count it because it's an uncashed check?]